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7:00 AM

Registration opens, Auditorium Corridor

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7:30 AM - 8:00 AM

Breakfast​

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8:00 AM – 5:00 PM: CONCURRENT SESSIONS

• Boundaries, Easements & Title

  • Speaker: Mike Davis, Dewberry

  • Credits: 8

  • Description: Nothing involves the surveyor’s workday like the concepts of Boundaries, Easements, and Title. This session starts from the beginning – Research (is there such a thing as too much?), initial inspections and site visits, through identifying possible conflicts, gaps/gores, and a whole host of other things. The newly licensed, those trying to get licensed, and seasoned surveyors, through examples, court cases, and horror stories, will enjoy learning and revisiting some of these concepts. 

• Fundamentals of Surveying Preparation

  • Speakers: Dave Moyle, JMT; Sam Sandler, iCivil; and Nick Wheeler, GPI

  • Credits: 8

  • Description: This session will cover different areas of knowledge needed to help prepare for the Fundamentals of Surveying (FS) Exam. Areas of focus will be the following: Calculator basics, Surveying processes and methods, Mapping processes and methods, Boundary law and real property principles, Surveying principles, Survey Computations, Business concepts, and Applied Mathematics. You will need for the class an NCEES-approved calculator, paper and pencils, and a thumb drive.

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8:00 AM – 9:00 AM: CONCURRENT SESSIONS

• How to Compile Your Records for SUE

  • Speaker: Bob Sheeler, iCivil, Inc.

  • Credits: 1

  • Description: Subsurface Utility Engineering (SUE) records research involves the collection, review, and analysis of existing utility records to identify and map the location, type, and condition of underground utilities. This research phase of SUE focuses on gathering historical and current data from utility owners, public agencies, and private databases to establish a preliminary understanding of underground infrastructure in a given project area.

• Rising Tides & Changing Waters: NOAA’s Plan to Update the NTDE

  • Speaker: Katherine Fitzenreiter, NOAA

  • Credits: 1

  • Description: Maintained by NOAA’s Center for Operational Oceanographic Products and Services (CO-OPS), the National Tidal Datum Epoch (NTDE) is the collection of water level observations over 19 years to generate a set of tidal datums. NTDE incorporates data from 2,000+ coastal water level stations. Updating this reference period will ensure the Nation’s tidal datums are based on recent data and provide a common reference frame to account for long-term effects of land movement, sea level rise, and changes in tidal constituents. Accurate tidal datums are critical for federal, state, and private-sector coastal zone activities, including navigation, storm warning, and marine boundary determination. After 2026, CO-OPS will replace the existing 1983-2001 NTDE. The new 2002-2020 NTDE will include the CO-OPS repository of permanent real-time and historic stations with available data. New datum automation procedures will generate new NTDE products more efficiently to deliver the update on schedule.

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8:00 AM – 12:00 PM: CONCURRENT SESSIONS

• Accuracy & Precision, the Foundation of a Quality Least Squares Adjustment

  • Speakers: Scott Luhn & Tommy Nichols, Leica Geosystems

  • Credits: 4

  • Description: The first two hours of this session covers definitions of accuracy & precision, errors, and statistics. These definitions are correlated with published accuracy standards.  Finally, survey considerations such as equipment and economy are evaluated using “real world” data to add a practical context to an otherwise theoretical subject. In the second two hours you will create a 3D Least Squares Adjustment with data measured from a real survey project and step through the procedure by defining the control points - Fixed in 3D, 2D, 1D or not fixed, Selecting the observations that are to be considered in adjustment, running the adjustment and evaluate reports of the test results derived from the F-Test & Chi-Square, fixing blunders and comparing several adjustment runs, storing the results that satisfy the adjustment criteria, and exporting reports and adjusted data.

• MD Law Review

  • Speaker: Kevin Norris, Kevin Norris Surveying, LLC

  • Credits: 4

  • Description: This course is to prepare you for the Maryland Law Component of your surveyor’s exam.  The material will cover laws pertaining to surveying from the Annotated Code of Maryland, Code of Maryland Regulations, and Maryland case law.  While this class is not intended to be an all-inclusive law course, it is intended to help you better prepare for the surveyor’s exam. 

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9:00 AM – 11:00 AM: SESSION

• Cyclone 3DR Rapid BIM Models for Surveyors

  • Speaker: Adam Westfall, Leica Geosystems

  • Credits: 2

  • Description: This session will show you how to use Leica Cyclone 3DR to quickly create floorplans and building models.​​

 

9:00 AM – 12:00 PM: SESSION

• New Datums - New Coordinates – New Heights - Are You Ready for 2025?

  • Speaker: David Doyle, Base 9 Geodetic Consulting

  • Credits: 3

  • Description: In 2025, two federal agencies, the National Geodetic Survey (NGS) and the Center for Operational Oceanographic Products and Services (CO-OPS) will deliver new and improved horizontal and vertical geodetic and tidal datums for the country. These enhancements will embrace significant advancements in earth orientation measurement systems and reflect high levels of interagency collaboration to provide more accurate and contemporary positional and height information detailing the foundation of the National Spatial Reference System. The community of professional surveyors will be relied upon to provide a significant leadership role in the adoption of these new systems to a vast array of other disciplines in the private and public sectors at the local, state, and national levels. It will be important for these professionals to understand the rationale for this effort and the magnitude of changes expected in geodetic and tidal heights together with the introduction of significant changes in the State Plane Coordinate System. This session will discuss the foundations for these changes demonstrate datum transformation and coordinate conversion tools to estimate the magnitude of these changes across the country.

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11:00 AM – 12:00 PM: SESSION

• Digital Signatures, Seals and Data

  • Speaker: Tim Burch, National Society of Professional Surveyors

  • Credits: 1

  • Description: As we bravely navigate what is known as the Fourth Industrial Revolution, the surveying and geospatial professions work in and create data for a digital environment. Along with the advancements of productivity and capability are legal and ethical challenges of utilizing digital data from many sources. Part of the professional surveyor's duties is to attest for the work completed by them and/or under their direction, but what if some of the data is not theirs to certify? And how do our laws apply to "signing" professional opinions of a survey plat? Digital seals and signatures differ from electronic signatures, so this session will explore what is the right tool for the surveyor to utilize.​

 

12:00 PM - 1:00 PM

Lunch

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1:00 PM – 5:00 PM: CONCURRENT SESSIONS

• Exam Writing ( by invitation only)

  • Instructor: TJ Frazier, Rodgers Consulting

  • Credits: 4

• Understanding Least Squares Using Trimble Business Center Software

  • Speaker: Alan Dragoo, Colliers Engineering

  • Credits: 4

  • Description: Using least squares to adjust your survey data is the best way to adjust your survey measurements because it applies the least adjustment to your survey measurements. This session will allow you to understand how to evaluate the results of the adjustment and properly use and understand the statistical terms from the adjustment process. Survey procedures and errors for measurements will be discussed. Trimble Business Center software will be used to demonstrate the processing and adjustment of survey data in various projects and review and understand the results.

• MD Road Grade & Storm Drain (Minor Engineering) Review

  • Speaker: Bill Bower, Atwell, LLC

  • Credits: 4

  • Description: The MD Road Grade & Storm Drain (Minor Engineering) review class is intended as a review of the hydrologic & hydraulic principles of the design and construction of storm drain structures and ESD devices, and the principles of vertical curve design for highways in Maryland to prepare surveyors for the Maryland Road Grade and Storm Drain (Minor Engineering) portion of the Professional Land Surveyor’s licensing exam.  The course will utilize the following design manuals: 

    • MDSHA Storm Drain Design Manual

    • MDE Maryland Stormwater Design Manual, Volumes I & II

    • MDE’s 2011 Standards & Specifications for Soil Erosion & Sediment Control

    • USDOT-FHWA Urban Drainage Design Manual, Rev. Aug 2013

    • USDOT-FHWA Hydraulic Design of Highway Culverts, Rev. May 2005

    • USDA-NRCS Urban Hydrology for Small Watersheds (TR-55

    • Students are expected to be familiar with these manuals prior to attending the class. A laptop with PDF versions of the manuals is recommended. The instructor will review design concepts and provide practice problems to complete during the class.

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1:00 PM – 3:00 PM: CONCURRENT SESSIONS

• TR-55 Prep Class

  • Speaker: Mike Loveland, GPI

  • Credits: 2

  • Description: This session review of the USDA Technical Release 55 (TR-55) will provide an overview of studying to take the Delaware state exam. We will look at chapters 1-5 focusing on the key concepts, equations, figures, tables, and worksheets in each and work through practical examples.

• The Statute of Repose and Records Retention Roundtable

  • Speakers: Kyle Damalouji, Klein Agency; James Shaw, JMT; Kevin Norris, Kevin Norris Surveying, LLC; Julian Miranda, Wiles Mensch

  • Credits: 2

  • Description: As licensed surveyors, we are all subject to the Statute or Repose. The Statute for the State of Maryland is ten years from the date of the survey or three years from the date of discovery, whichever comes first. What does that mean? If you face a legal challenge, what records do you need? How has technology changed the concept of records? What are the best practices for digital record retention? How does big data (LiDAR, photogrammetry, 3D models) impact record retention? Join us for an interactive, roundtable discussion to explore these topics and to protect yourself and your company if there is litigation.

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3:00 PM – 5:00 PM: CONCURRENT SESSIONS

• Survey Reports and Effective Communication

  • Speaker: Kierran Sutherland, CCBC

  • Credits: 2

  • Description: This session will focus on the essential skills required for creating clear, accurate, and effective land survey reports, along with strategies for communicating technical survey data to diverse audiences. Participants will learn how to present technical survey data in a way that is both accurate and user-friendly, ensuring that reports are not only informative but also persuasive when necessary. By the end of the session, attendees will have a stronger understanding of how to craft comprehensive land survey reports and communicate findings confidently across various professional settings.

• BIM 101

  • Speakers: Sam Dougherty and Matt Anderle, AECOM

  • Credits: 2

  • Description: This session explores the basics of BIM and what a survey team should understand and consider for their next project. Topics include Common Data Environments (CDE), BIM Execution Plans (BxP), Software, Level of Development (LOD), Modeling, Quality Control, and Digital Delivery. The goal of the session is to educate surveyors on proper BIM preparation, procedures, terminology, execution, and delivery.